Cat social graces

I'm babysitting cats this week. Actually, I'm just babysitting one - the other one is mine. But because mine terrorizes the one I'm babysitting, it means I end up having to wrangle them both.

The cat I'm babysitting is my mom's. He's actually very easy to take care of, because when he comes to my house, he spends the whole time under the guest bed or burrowed under the guest bed covers. I set his litter box and food up in the guest bathroom and try to just give him the run of that part of the house.

The problem is that Murphy stalks him. And because the guest room and bathroom are not connected, I can't close the guest room door to keep her out. I have to lock her up in my bedroom/bathroom suite while I'm at work and at night. That's not exactly a hardship. I have a big bedroom and a nice, big bed and windows to the backyard for her to watch the yard and entertain herself. But I don't want to keep her locked up when I'm there and awake, and it's a pain trying to keep on top of where she is at any given moment.

Lest you feel too bad for my mom's cat, when he first came on the scene, Murphy tried to be friends with him. He hissed at her and stalked her, so she tried to ignore him. He persisted until one day she'd had enough. She turned on him, and like most bullies, he wilted when confronted with someone who wasn't going to tolerate his b.s. But instead of defending herself, she's now become the aggressor, bullying him right back. So, in fairness, he did bring it on himself. But I could do without the literal cat-fighting.

I figure sooner or later he's bound to stand his ground and maybe they'll go to their neutral corners...right??